Plot: George (Matt Damon) is a psychic who finds psychic abilities hurt his ability to meet girls, as we learn when he brings Melanie (Bryce Dallas Howard) home. There are two intercut sub-plots: a troubled boy (George/Frankie McLaren) wants to contact his dead twin; and a French newscaster, Marie (Cécile De France,) plagued by her near-death experience in a tsunami.
Review: A disappointing flop. Hereafter has good performances in the service of an intensely dull and slow moving script.
The movie begins with its best scene, a dramatic tsunami hitting a vacation beach, and Marie's death and rescue in the flood. After this scene pace slows to a crawl, Matt Damon's George is a calm, slow character. I like Damon's acting best in the movie, but the movie drags between his scenes, and the acoustic sound track is like a lullaby . Marie is French, and for some reason most of her dialog is in French. I can't understand this: how does it help the movie to have one third of it in French?
The third story is about a twin boy, Marcus, who survives the death of his brother in a traffic accident. The boy is depicted as a saintly child caring for his drug-addicted mother, and bedeviled by the need to reconnect with the dead twin. The boy's character is not realistic, does not make sense, and the actor depiction of the character is uninspired.
Clint Eastwood fell on his face in this movie. This self-important, ponderous movie wastes its good acting with clumsy editing and a poor story.
Cast: Matt Damon, Bryce Dallas Howard, Cécile De France
Directed by: Clint Eastwood
Rating: 1.5 stars
More: More than anything else I am bored by the mythos of near death experiences. Can someone think of something new to say about it?
Even more: My DW liked the movie. She identified with the spiritual seekers, and especially how the "regular" people disregarded Marie's and Marcus's need to deal with their issues.
